Apparatus for testing and assorting



Nov. 12, 1935. c. REITER'ET AL 2,020,964

APPARATUS FOR TES'I'ING AND ASSORTING ELECTRIC INCANDESCENT LAMPS FiledDec. 28, 1931 Z Sheeis-Sheet 1 IIIIMIM .DWE TQRE EAsF/ua REZTER. I I PILTHEA-WTNFRIED L BEBE- CUAT Smsazv FELIX B05511" NAXR. GR assmzvm Tamra.Arran er? Nov. 12, 1935. c; REIT-ER El AL 2,020,964

APPARATUS FOR TESTING AND ASSORTING ELECTRIC INCANDESCENT LAMPS I FiledDec. 28, 1931 2 Sheets$heet 2 v 67 r f 2 c3 7 Watts .Z'WENTERE EAEPARREITE'R I I IAL-THER-I I Y NPRIEZ? Lazar BURT SAMEUN FELIX Baas NAXTR.5RUS5MANN T's/22m A'rrazuvzrr" "Patented Nov. 12, 1935 APPARATUS FORTESTING ASSORTING ELEQTRIC INCANDESCENT LAIVIPS Our invention relates totesting of electric inelm. lbeiter, Berlin-Treptow, and Walther-Winiried Loebe; 'Berlin-Waidmannslust, and Curt Samson, Felix Bobck, andMax B; Grossmann, Berlin, Germany, assignors to} General v ElectricCompany, a corporation oi New York Application December.28, 1931,'Sel'ial No. 583,51'0

In Germany January28, 1931 3 Claims. (01.209 81) ing to their luminousefllciency; Fig.3 is a percandescent lamps and more particularly'toapparatus for automatically: assorting lamps according to their luminousefliciency.

5 One object 'of our invention is to provide anapparatus, which will beentirely automatic, for determining the luminous efliciency, that is,the lumens per watt ratio, of. electric incandescent lamps and assortingsaid lamps according to the value of said ratio. The life of anincandescent lamp depends chiefly upon the operating temperature of thefilament which, in turn, depends directly upon the luminous efliciency,so that the life of the lamp may be predicted upon the determination ofsaid luminous efliciency: This was formerly done by determining theintensity factorin lumens with a photometer and the input factor with awattmeter and dividing the lumens by the watts. Our invention. dispenseswith such :0 a calculation.

We accomplish the above-mentioned objects by supplying the lamps to thejaws'oi an indexing spider which carries the lamps to a position wherethey are first. tested for broken filaments or short :5 circuits. If alamp has either of these defects it will continue around with the spiderbut when released therefrom, diverting means will operate to guideitinto a special receptacle. From this preliminary test position, the lampis introduced into a photometer sphere for determination of -theluminous efliciency. Said efficiency is recorded by means of a lightbeamwhich is deflected by mirrors which are in turn actuated by a directreading photometer and a wattmeter, said light 35 beam being directed,after reflection, upon a screen. A portion of the screen which indicatesallowable values of luminous efliciency is'madetransparent while therest of the screen is impervious to light. If the light beam strikes thetransl0 parent portion of the screen it passes therethrough to aphoto-electric cell which operates" to allow the lamp to assume itsnormal course after delivery. It, on the other hand, the light beamstrikes the non-transparent part of the screen, it fails to reachthe'photo-electric cell and a solenoid becomes energizedand opensa-trapdoor through which the defective lamp drops after being released fromthejaws of the spider.

Additional features and advantages of our in- 50 vention will appearfrom the following detailed spective view of the automatic means forluminous. efliciency measurement; and Fig. 4 shows a chart used to showthe value of luminous efliciency of a lamp under test.

Referring to Fig. 1, lamps ill to be tested'are' supplied at position Ato jaws H mounted on a spider 12, either directly. from a base cementingmachine (not shown) or by hand. The lamp is indexed to position B, apreliminarytest posi- 10 tion for the determination of the existence ofa broken filament-or a short circuit, where it engages contacts of acircuit l3 which is energized by a source of electrical energy l4operating at approximately half the normal voltage of the 18 lamp. Saidcircuit i 3 also comprises two solenoids l5, IS, the armatures l1, l8 ofwhich are normally held against contacts I9, 20 by springs 2|, 22, saidcontacts I9, 20 being interconnected. The armatures l1, l8 are locatedin a. circuit com- .20 p g a source of electric energy 23 and a solenoid24.. An'armature 25 of said solenoid 24' is in the form of a pawl, afinger 28' of which normally engages a latch 21 due to the pullpfiaspring28. Said latch 21 is actuated by a spring 25 29 when it-isreleased by the pawl 26. In case the bulb at position B has a brokenfilament there will of course be no flow of currentin the circuit 43,but the solenoid 24 will be energized due to the fact that armatures i1and I8 remaip against 30 the contacts I9, 20. The armature 25 will thenbe drawn over and disengage finger 26 from the latch 21 which moves upto the position shown in dotted lines. The solenoid I5 is so designedthat it is actuated by the flow of a comparatively small amount ofcurrent while solenoid i6 does not function unless a comparatively heavycurrent flows so that if. the lamp is not short-circuited, and thefilament is intact, 'onlythe solenoid l5 will be energized. In this casethe arma- 40 ture I! will be drawn from the contact l9 to a contact 30and the circuit throughsolenoid 24 will be broken at a contact 3| whichis connected to contact 30,-thereby resulting in the non-energlzation ofsaid solenoid 24. Since solenoid 24 is not energized the armature 25is'not attracted and the finger 26 keeps the latch 2'! in place.Finally, if the lamp I0 is short-circuited, both solenoids l5 and IEwill be energized and will draw the armatures i1 and I8 to the contacts30 and 3|, thereby completing the circuit through the solenoid 24 anddrawing the finger 26 out of engagement with the latch 21 which movesup. Durins the subsequent indexing the latch 21 rotates along with thelamp so that said latch may be mounted on the spider l2. A latch isprovided for each of the receiving Jaws II, but only one of said latchesis shown in the drawings in several diflerent positions for clearness.

Fromposition B the lamp I 8 is indexed to position C where automaticdetermination of the luminous efliciency takes place. Between positions3 and C are located a pair of contacts 32 which are normally open. Ifthe lamp tested at B has neither a broken filament nor a short circuit,the latch 21, being in the down position, will not affect the openposition of contacts 32, but if the latch is inthe upper position, dueto a defective lamp, it willstrike the contacts 32, and bring themtogether. The purpose of closing said contacts 32 is to renderinoperative the lamp l8 has passed the test at position B the 86 theeficiency measuring means at position C. The circuit of contacts 32comprises asource of energy 33 and asolenoid 34. An armature 35 ofsolenoid 34 is drawn from the position shown by dotted lines, where itis normally held by a spring 36, to that shown in full lines, therebybreaking, at contact 31, the measuring circuit which is fully describedhereinafter, The end of armature 35, in drawing toward the solenoid 34,slides across the face of a pawl 38 which is drawn up by a spring 39 tohold said armature 35 awayirom the contact 31 during the duration of thebulb l8 at-position C; Between positions C and D are located anotherpair of contacts 48 which are disposed in a circuit comprising a sourceof electrical energy 4| and a solenoid 42 having for its armature thepawl 38. As with contacts 32, if

latch 21 will not disturb the open position of contacts '48; but-if thebulb is defective, said latch 21 will act to close the contacts 48 whichwill cause the solenoid 42 to be energized, thereby drawing down thecombined armature and pawl 38 to allow the armature 35- to swing back tocontact 31 so that the efficiency measuring circuit at C is renderedoperative for the next lamp. Shortly after leaving the contacts 48, thelatch 21, it it is in its outward position by virtue of a defectivebulb, will close a pair of contacts 43 which are located in a circuitcomprisingv a source of electrical energy 44 and a-solenoid 45. Saidsolenoid 45, becoming energized, will attract an armature 46 which formsa door in the bottom of a delivery chute 41 and is normally held up byaspring 48. The lamp I8 is released at position D and slides down'thechute 41, so that it said lamp is defective it will drop through thedoor 46 into a container 49. The solenoid 45 comprises a parallelcircuit by means of which current continues to flow through it after thelatch 21 has left the contacts 43 so as to'hold open the door 46 untilthe lamp has been released at position D, after which the parallel orholding circuit is interrupted so that the door 46 may be drawn to aclosed position by the spring 48. The said parallel or holding circuitcomprises a conductor 88 connected to one end oi'the cor or armature 46and to the side of the solenoid 45' on whichthe contact points 43 arelocated. A conductor 8| is connected to the side of the source 44 ofelectrical energy on which the contactpoints 43 are located;Said'conductor 8| t extends to a contact point 82 which is normally incontact with a second point 83, said contact point 83 being heldin theclosed position by a spring 84. A conductor extends from the con-' tactpoint 83 to another contact point 86 disposed in the path of travel ofthe armature 46 so as to be in contact therewith when said arma+ ascreen 68.

ture 46 is in the position shown in dotted lines. The holding circuitfunctions as follows:

When-the finger 21, in its extended position,

passes across the contact points 43 and closes them, the solenoid 45 isenergized, as hereinl before explained, and attracts the armature 46 thesaid holding circuit through the solenoid 45 and allowingthe door 48 toclose.

As hereinbefore mentioned, the measurement 2( of the efliciency of thelamp takes place at position C. Here is provided a photometer sphere58into which the lamp is introduced, said sphere being made impervious tolight by means or curved portions 5l' provided on the spider I: whichclose up a slot provided in said sphere 58 to allow for the passage ofthe lamp there-' through. 'Said lamp l8 engages the contacts of acircuit comprising a source of electrical energy 52, the armature 35,and a wattmeter 53. Referring to Fig. 3, light rays 54 leave a projector55 in the form of a small beam of substantially parallel rays and strikea mirror 56 mounted on the axis of the pointer of a direct readingphotometer 51, located in the sphere 58. Said beam 54 3 is reflecteditrom said mirror 56 and passes through a reversing prism 58,,the baseof which .is inclined at an angle of 45 to the horizontal,

so that the ray 54 which oscillates in ahorizontal plane by the movementof the pointer of the 4 photometer 51, oscillates in a vertical planeafter leavingsaid prism 58. The beam 54' then strikes a .a second mirror59 mounted on the axis of the pointer of the watt-meter 53, and isreflected to It is also possible to mount the4 photometer 51 andwattmeter 53 with the axes oi! the pointers at right angles and dispensewith the prism 58.

The screen -68 is calibrated as shown by the chart in Fig. 4 in terms oflumens on the ordinate l and watts on the abscissa, so that the beam 54produces a point of light on said screen 68 which indicates the ratio oflumens to watts. Let us assume that the point of light strikes the chartat E. This would indicate that with an input I of 25 watts, the lampyields-a flux of 250 lumens for a luminous efilciency of 10 lumens perwatt. Similarly, points of light at F and G would indicate a luminousefiiciency of 10 lumens per watt, and a line a drawn through said pointsE, F and G would then indicate a luminous efiiciencyof 18 lumens perwatt ior any point falling thereon. Similarly a line b wouldindicate-all points at which the efllciency of the lamp is li'lumens perwatt and a line c would indicate all points corresponding to anefliciency of 8 lumens per watt. A section 61 of the screen 68 (Fig. 3)represents an area of the chart of Fig. -4-within which the beam 54would be considered as having an acceptable value, that is, it the beam54 falls within said area 6|, the luminous efliciency o! the lamp undertest is acceptable.

Referring to Fig. 2, a semi-transparent mirror 62, comprising a glassplate with plane and parallel faces lightly silvered on thedrcntsurface, is

placed in the path of the beam of light 64 at. an angle of 45 thereto sothat a portion 68 of the beam goes through said mirror and a portion 64is reflected at an angle of 90. The reflected beam 64 passes through thetransparent area 8| of the screen 60 and through a condensing lens 65 toa photo-electric cell 66, provided the luminous efllciency of the lampis an allowable one as otherwise the beam 64 will strike thenon-transparent screen 60 outside the area 6|. A screen 61 similar toscreen 60 is provided in the path of the beam 63 merely for p p sesotproviding a visible indication of the exact rating of the lamp beingtested apart from the actual control screen 60, so that the mirror 62and screen 61 could be eliminated and the screen 60 placed in theposition of said screen 6! with the photo-electric cell 66 of coursedisposed behind it. If the light beam 64 passes through the allowablearea 6| and strikes the photo-electric cell 66 it sets up a current inthe circuit of that cell, which comprises a source of electrical energy68, a large'resistance 69, which is preferably a'nother photo-electriccell, a grid 10 of an amplifying tube II, and a cathode I2 of said tubeII. The cathode I2 is also in a circuit comprising a source oi. energy1.8, a solenoid 9|, which in turn influences a solenoid I4 and an anodeI5 of the tube II. Due to the energization of the grid I by the vflow ofcurrent through the circuit of photo-electric cell 68, said grid assumesa negative potential which results in an interruption of the currentflow between the cathode I2 and anode I5. In this event, the solenoidI4, being de-energized by means of an intermediate circuit throughsolenoid 9I, hereinafter described, will not exert a pull on a combinedarmature and door I6, so that said door is held close against the bottomof the chute 41 (see also Fig. 1) by a spring 11, and a lamp released atposition D will pass over said door I6 into a receptacle I8. If, on theother hand, the lamp does not have the desired luminous efllciency, thebeam of light 64 will strike the screen 60 outside of the area 6| andwill not reach the photoelectric cell 66, with the result thatno'current will flow in the circuit of said cell 66 and the grid I0 willnot have a potential. There will then.

be a flow of current between the cathode I2 and anode I5, resulting inthe energization oi the solenoid I4 which pulls open the door I6 andallows the lamp to drop into a receptacle I9. The current impulse whichenergizes the solenoid I4 and opens the door I6 is arranged to takeplace just before the lamp leaves position C (Fig. l) by means of atimed contact. The said time contact mechanism is illustrated asa pairof segments 81-88 mdunted on a disc 89 on a shaft 90 which makes onecomplete revolution for each indexing of spider I2. The direct action ofthe circuit comprising the source 18 and tube II is on a solenoid 9Iwhich is connected on one side to the said source I3 and on the otherside to a. conductor 92 and contact 93, segment 81, contact 94 andconductor 95 to the anode I of tube II. In order to maintain the settingof the door 16 until a bulb has been released at position D, a parallelholding circuit'is provided for solenoid 9| which acts on an armature96. Said circuit comprises a contact point 91, which the armature 96engages when attracted by the'solenoid 9 I a conductor 98, contact 99,the segment 88, a contact point I08,

conductor IOI, resistance I 02 equalto the resistance of the tube II,and conductor I03 which is.

connected on the same side of the source 18 as cathode I2. The end ofarmature 96 is connected to the end of solenoid 9! on the same side assegment 81. Said armature 96 is normally held open by a spring I04. Thesolenoid I4 is actuated by a. source I05 through a conductor I06,conductor 98, armature 96 and conductor I01. 5 The operation of thesecircuits is as follows:

Assuming that there is a lamp in position C of unallowable eillciency,the beam of light 64 will not pass through the area 6| of screen 60(Fig.

2) so that the circuit of the photo-electric cell 10 66 will not beenergized and consequently a potential will not exist at the grid I0,thus allowing a flow of current to pass between the anode and cathodeI2. This would then immediately cause the solenoid 9I to be energized bythe 15 source I8 and attract the ,armature 96 to close the circuitthrough the source. I05 and solenoid I4 which would open the door I6.However, this action must not be allowed to take place immediatelybecause a. lapse'of time must be allowed for the release of a lamp atposition D which must slide over the said door I6 if it recorded aproper efllciency in position C. Therefore, the segment 81 is arrangedat-such a position on the disc 89 that it will not close the circuitthrough the solehold 9| and source I3 until a suflicient amount of timehas elapsed for a lamp at position D to pass over door I6. After thelapse of said time interval the segment 81 closes the said circuitthrough the solenoid 9!, which is then'maintained by the parallelholding circuit through the armature 96 and segment 88. The circuitthrough the solenoid I4, source I05 and armature 96 is also established,thus opening the door I6. The door'is held open by the action of the.hold- 86 ing circuit until the lamp under test reaches po: sition D andis released, after which time the segment 88 has been rotated until thegap I08 reaches contacts 99-I00. This, of course, breaks the saidholding circuit, releasing armature 96. 40 which then releases armature16, thus clearing the circuits, which are then reset by the segment 81if another poor lamp is under test at C. When a lamp having an allowableefliciency is under test at c, the fact that the light beam 64 strikesthe as cell 66 and sets up a potential in the grid I0 of tube II will,of course, break the circuit through the said tube II, source I3, andsolenoid 9I, so that the armature 96 will not be-attracted thus breakingthe circuit through solenoid I4 and causing 60 the door I6 to remain ina closed position.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is: g

1. An apparatus for testing and assorting elec-- tric lamps comprising aphotometer chamber, means for automatically inserting into and removinglamps from said chamber, means for measuring automatically the luminousefliciency of said lamps comprising a measuring instrument indicatinglumens and a second measuring in- 80 strument indicating energy input,and means for producing a light beam which is deflected by mirrors whichare in turn actuated by said measuring instruments and means forassorting said lamps comprising a screen disposed in the path of saidlight beam which passes said beam to or obstructs it from aphoto-electric cell according to the luminous efliciency of the lamp,and means controlled by said cell for determining the path ofdischa'rge'of the lamp under test from the 70 apparatus.

.2. An apparatus for testing and asserting electric lamps comprising arevolving carrier for said lamps, a circuit into which a lamp isintroduced for the determination of the existence or nonexistence of abroken illament or short circuit which circuit comprises a plurality oisolenoids which operate to reject detective lamps, means for measuringautomatically the lumens per watt ratio of said lamps comprising ameasuring instrument indicating lumens and a second measuring instrumentindicating energy input and means for producing a light beam which isdeflected by mirrors which are in turn actuated by said measuringinstruments and means for assorting said lamps comprising a screendisposed in the path of said light beam which passes said beam to orobstructs it from a photo-electric cell according to the luminouseiiiciency of the lamps and means controlled by said cell fordeterminingthepath of dischargeotthelampundertest from the apparatus. I

3. An apparatus for testing and asserting electric lamps comprising arevolving carrier for said lamps, a circuit into which a lamp isintroduced for the determination of the existence or non-existence of abroken filament or short circuit which circuit comprises a plurality ofsolenoids which operate to reject detective lamps, means cooperatingwith said circuit for rendering inoperative alight outputmeasuringcircuit in case a lamp is defective, means for measuringautomatically the lumens per watt ratio of said lamps compris- 5 ing ameasuring instrument indicating lumens and a second measuring instrumentindicating energy input and means for producing a light a beam which isdeflected by mirrors-which are'in turn actuated by said measuringinstruments and 10 means for asserting said lamps comprising ascreendisposed in the path of said light beam which passes said beam toor obstructs it from a photo-electric cell according to the luminouseiiiciency of the lamp and means controlled by said cell for determiningthe path or discharge 0! the lamp under test from the apparatus. a

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